Gossip Girl
by Inudaughter Returns
Summary: Rhonda angers all her fellow classmates by gossiping about them too much. Will she find a way to earn their forgiveness?
1. Chapter 1

A beautiful day can be beautiful for all sorts for reasons. Today was one of those days when the iris were especially beautiful, while the rain had lashed all the others in garden patch by Arnold's backyard fence into a mass of tattered petals. But the iris, which were water plants by nature, shone in the sun like amethyst gems.

Sunshine filtered back into the streets and people shed their raincoats at last, craning their heads up toward the malign tempered sky. There were enough clouds on the horizon to guess that they'd be in for another rainstorm soon, but at least the danger of spring floods was subsiding.

"Whew!" Arnold's grandpa muttered as Arnold puttered around in the greenhouse where the boy kept an assortment of lush leafed, tropical plants. Grandpa was examining a newspaper. "Says here, Shortman, that this week should be the end of rain for a while! Good thing, too! The levy was getting mighty high! But no matter what, we'd stick it out! We are as tough as sticky tape!" Arnold craned his head around to listen to his Grandpa. But he was mildly surprised when Ernie Potts walked into the greenhouse door looking for him.

"Hey, Arnold!" the short, balding boarder explained with a thumbed pointed backwards behind his shoulder. "One of your little classmates is here to see you!"

"That little girl with the ugly eyebrow?" Grandpa speculated. But Ernie Potts shook his overlarge nose no.

"Nah, ah, it's some other weird kid. Wears red and has an attitude of a different kind… what was her name again? Oh! Rhonda!"

"Rhonda?" Arnold responded with dull enthusiasm. He dropped the enormous, waxy green leaf he was holding. "Oh, yeah, I'm expecting her. Sorta." Arnold dusted the potting soil off his hands then entered his house's back door to pop out the front. Rhonda Lloyd was waiting on the front stoop with her arms crossed.

"Hey Rhonda," Arnold said with dull enthusiasm. He propped one of his rear heels against the heavy concrete rail portion of his stoop, then leaned the back of his calves and lay one hand on the top of the railing. His gaze was angled toward Rhonda, in an effect that was both slanted and a little cool but not flirtatious. With age, he was overcoming him uncomely lack of confidence to become a little bit of a braggart. After all, he had gone on more dates than anyone of his fellow classmates, saved the neighborhood, and become a local hero of sorts for his good deeds. "What do you need?"

"Arnold," Rhonda said slapping her hand against the cover of a thick textbook she had brought with her. "I know we went over this in this in study session, but for our math project, I just don't get how to construct ANYTHING out of construction paper! I mean, the little pieces of paper just fall over all over the place! It's troublesome! They definitely don't end up three-dimensional! They're flat!"

"Well, that because you need to fold each shape out of one sheet of paper," Arnold explained. "Like origami. "Or you could try using popsicle sticks to build a frame! We could work on our homework project together if you like. Come on, we can use my kitchen table! Did you bring the construction paper with you?"

"Alright!" Rhonda complained loudly as she shrugged. "I don't get why anyone needs or cares to make a pyramid out of paper other than to annoy school children, but okay!"

"Well, it helps to conceptualize the lesson if there's a visual reference," Arnold said as he rummaged through a drawer for scissors. "Hold on and I'll go get some glue!" Arnold trotted upstairs. But as he slowly walked down his bannister staircase with a squeezy bottle of glue in hand, he heard laughter up ahead. Rhonda Lloyd was still seated at the kitchen table, but some of the boarders had gathered around her.

"Oh that's funny, that's very funny!" Mr. Hyunh said.

"Yeah, that's a riot!" Ernie Potts agreed.

"Hooray for Kimba!" Grandma Pookie said for no particular, sensical reason.

"Oh, Arnold!" Mr. Hyunh greeted the boy with a cheerful grin. "You did not tell us ever about your school field trip to the zoo!" Arnold rolled his eyes backwards with unease.

"I'd really rather not talk about that!" Arnold fished for understanding. But Rhonda was in the middle of what Rhonda thought was a riveting story. The boarders apparently thought so, too.

"And then Helga said, 'Where did old Arnoldo go? I haven't seen him or Gerald for nearly an hour!' So I glared at Curly and said, 'Alright Curly, what did you do now?!' Eugene turned up and said, 'They're over there!' So we looked and all of the tiny lemurs were running all over the place. Gerald and Arnold had tried to stop Curly so he had shut them up in the smelly old monkey cage. Children were poking at them. And when the zookeepers threw us all out for what Curly did, they stunk up the school bus so bad that…."

"Ugh, Rhonda?" Arnold interrupted much louder this time so that his gentle voice had grown stern enough for his more dominant side to show through. "While it's nice of you to reminisce about shared childhood memories, I'd appreciate it if you considered my feelings more about it. I told you ALREADY that I don't want you mention it. So don't mention it!" Arnold gave Rhonda a glare. But she flicked her fingers outward to dismiss his subtle anger.

"Oh please! There's no reason to get all upset about it! All I'm saying is simple and recountable, substantiated fact! Ask anyone who was there! If you think long and hard about it, I'm sure you'll realize that I'm right and get over it!"

"Well," Arnold murmured scratching his chin. "That is true. All that really happened. But Rhonda, as a friend let me tell another 'fact'. This time about you. I hate to say this, but you tend to say a lot of things about other people. If you gossip about others a lot, I dunno, you MIGHT make a lot of people angry at you. You might hurt other people's feelings too much so that they might stop wanting to be friends. So I really suggest you don't do it." Arnold left of there, because he had spoken all of his advice in one great sermon and it was up to Rhonda now to either heed his advice or ignore it.

"Oh, Arnold, don't freak out over little things like this!" Rhonda said with undiminished cheer. "Just go on about your daily life like this never happened! It's what I do!"

"Right. Sure," Arnold said with hooded eyes. It was clear he wasn't about to get an apology from Rhonda. "Well, if that's all you need, I'll show you out," the boy said. "I'll walk you to the door." Slightly numb, Rhonda stood up on her feet and followed Arnold out his front door. As soon as had walked out onto the stoop, the front door snapped shut behind her unusually fast, as if Arnold had held himself back just short of slamming it. Rhonda cast her gaze backwards on the green door.

"Well, I never!" Rhonda Lloyd stated to an invisible audience. "What's his deal anyway?"

Rhonda Lloyd didn't dwell on Arnold's annoyance with her for long. Instead, she showed up for school the next day with cheer. Nadine was waiting for her in a long hall lined with green lockers. "Hi Nadine!" Rhonda chirped. It was a good day to be at school with friends. Little did she suspect that Arnold's prediction about angering her other friends would come true.


	2. Chapter 2

Rhonda chatted with Nadine. She checked to see if something new had happened in her best friend's life. Then Rhonda power walked down the hall of P.S. 118, her chest puffed out in pride of herself. She cast her eyes about for someone to talk to, for gossiping was her bread and butter in life. She practically lived off the stuff. To Rhonda, gossip always tasted so sweet… at least for now.

Rhonda's eyes landed squarely on the Sid. The boy with the green ballcap perched backwards on his head was fiddling with the dial of his locker. Sid opened the door of his locker to reveal a frog's terrarium inside. The boy had made it an ideal place for his favorite frog Sydney to hang out. Only two school books could fit on the locker's top shelf because of a bowl for swimming, sand for digging, and a log for hiding in had been placed in the base of the locker and took up so much space.

"Hello, Sydney!" Sid grinned at the frog. When the frog croaked, he keened back to it with affection. Sid patted the frog on the top of its slimy green head.

"I told you, when I'm done with school we'll go down to the pond! I promised didn't I?"

"Ribbit!" the frog croaked happily. Sid lifted up his hat, and the frog hopped underneath it to be hidden there. Sid shut his locker door. When he turned around Rhonda was there, wearing a broad frown.

"Hello Sid!" Rhonda said. "May I ask you you just what what that…. Thing is doing here?" She pointed to Sid's hat.

"Uh, don't know what you're talking about!" the boy fibbed. Rhonda rolled her eyes.

"Fine. If you wanna get written up for bringing a pet to school, fine. It's no big deal for me. I just wanted to see how my fellow classmate is doing. Did you get the book report done last night? I did, and I did it on the brand new computer Mummy and Daddy bought me. It was very expensive. You DO have one don't you?" Rhonda said, fully prepared to gloat.

"A computer?!" Sid coughed. "No, I don't have anything like that. But while I don't have a computer, I have a mouse," the boy said with an attempt at humor. "It lives under the stairs in my house."

"Unbelievable!" Rhonda Lloyd said rolling her eyes. "The poor boy doesn't even have a computer!" She neglected to see the angry look of hurt pride that flashed into Sid's eyes.

"But in all seriousness," Rhonda stated mildly. "I wanted to ask you if you'd heard about Lila." Rhonda said, dropping her voice into a scandalous tone.

"No. I didn't. What happened?" Sid asked, curiosity getting the better of the boy.

"Well," Rhonda said. She cupped her mouth with her hand and dropped her voice into a loud whisper that was nearly as loud as just talking. "Lila is miserable because she flunked three quizzes in a row. It turns out she'd lost her math textbook and she was stubbornly, foolishly looking for it. Brainy finally brought it back to her. Turns out the poor girl had left it in the treehouse in the bathroom! It has toilet water on it! Ew! I'm so glad I'm not her!"

"Um, I feel sorry for her?" Sid said as he gathered his thoughts about him.

"Yes, I suppose one might. But did you hear about Peapod Kid?" Rhonda grasped at a new thread of conversation. "There's just the most AWFUL rumor about him!" But Sid frowned at the direction of Rhonda's speech.

"Uh, no I didn't! But I've gotta go!" Sid belted out. He scurried down the hall to get away from Rhonda. Rhonda craned her head about to view Sid's escape. Rhonda's lip jutted a tiny bit. She was perplexed why Sid had run away so suddenly. The conversation they had been having had been fun to her.

At lunchtime, Sid, Stinky, Arnold, Arnold's sometimes companion Eugene, and Harold were seated at a lunch table eating together. Gerald was busy making Phoebe laugh at their own private table. Helga was nowhere to be seen. But the interest of Arnold's fellow tablemates was concentrated firmly on Rhonda Lloyd. She was speaking loudly to a group of girls they could rightly term jerks. Her audience was laughing nastily.

"Gee," Sid said as he listened in on the far off conversation.

"Gosh," Stinky Peterson said out loud, a sandwich halfway poised to his mouth. "Miss Rhonda Lloyd sure does like to tell yarns about other people. But I don't think it's so nice to talk on about other people behind their back."

"Yeah? Well be thankful it's not you, she's talking about. Thanks to her, everyone knows my parents got me a Wally Alligator for Christmas."

"What's wrong with that?" Harold asked, defensively. His friends blinked, but knowing Harold had one of the alligator dolls himself, they kept their silence and returned to eating their sandwiches.

"Well, at least not everyone came up to you asking if y'all still believed in the tooth fairy 'cause of somethin' she said! Happened to me for weeks!" Stinky Peterson complained. "But my Pa explained to me! There's no tooth fairy here in Hillwood on account of he moved to New Jersey."

"MY parents told me he moved to South Dakota!" Eugene protested wearing a puzzled look. "Oh well!" the cheerful boy shrugged.

"Riiight," Arnold said in his most sarcastic manner. But he didn't argue with the two boys. It was unlikely he'd had ever believed in the tooth fairy to begin with. "Well, I'm sure Rhonda will learn to consider other people's feelings eventually. Remember, she did get better after she made friends with Big Patty! Maybe if we just explain to her how we feel, she'll lighten up and give us a break!"

"You really think that would work?" Sid asked with doubt.

"I think it's a fabulous idea, you guys!" piped up Eugene. He danced beside Harold and gave him the victory touch on his arm. Peevish, Harold made a fist.

"Who asked you?!" the boy griped.

"I asked him, alright?" Arnold stated with his most annoyed look. It seemed a certain someone had slept on the wrong side of the bed that day. Harold lowered his fist and moved away from the pesky red-haired boy. But at least Eugene was no longer in his space. Arnold finished his meal, then got up up toss his garbage away. As he walked back down the hallway toward the boy's bathroom, he spotted Phoebe standing in the hall for a guard. A few steps away, Helga was busy rigging up a bucketful of water balloons over the door. Helga cackled wickedly, then slowly walked backwards down the ladder.

"Oh, hi Arnoldo! Whatcha doing?" the girl said. Still wearing a smile, she folded the ladder she had been using up to stow it away. She crossed her arms and waited for Arnold to deliver the remark she knew was coming.

"Helga, what are you doing?" Arnold asked mildly. Both kids stared at the half-open door.

"Oh, some of the girls are helping me get back at Rhonda for telling others about my animal prints collection."

"What is your animal prints collection?" Arnold asked dumbly.

"You don't get to know," Helga quipped. "Just stand here and lean against the door as if you were opening it. Act gentlemanly. Here she comes!" Helga shoved Arnold against the door so that one of his hands rested against it.

"Helga, I don't think this is a good idea!" Arnold said as Helga hid behind him. Rhonda walked up to the two of them.

"Oh, why thank you, Arnold! You are such a nice boy!" Rhonda said approaching the girl's bathroom door. But as she began to walk through it, Helga kicked it closed with her foot. A Water balloons fell on Rhonda from above.

"Argh! Helga, what was that for?!" Rhonda squealed. "Ugh, I can't believe how uncouth you are! You're going to get my bill for drycleaning!" Rhonda wrung some of the moisture out of her sweater then stomped away down the hall. Helga chuckled nastily.

"Wow, thanks for making me your fall guy," Arnold said with sarcasm.

"You're welcome!" Helga answered cheerfully. "But I can see that scowl of yours. Okay, okay, I won't do it again! I swear by my cellphone!" Helga said lifting her hand into the air as if swearing in at court. Arnold continued frowning.

"Good," the boy said. "I'd better apologize to Rhonda for the both of us."

"Ah, let her scream at me! Then I'll say I'm sorry. I'll tell Rhonda we were my fall guy. She'll believe me. Don't worry your overly large head about it. But hasn't Rhonda been telling rumors about you?"

"It doesn't mean we should retaliate," Arnold scolded. "We can be more mature than that."

"Hm, I guess I could practice having some self-restraint. Fine, Arnoldo, have it your way."

"Thanks," Arnold said as the class bell rang. It signaled the student's return to the classrooms.

The students shuffled in. When Mr. Simmons romped in, he held a whole armful of colorful brochures. Some of the brochures were escaping his grasp to flutter to the floor. But Mr. Simmons set the remaining stack on his desk, then selected one brochure. He held it up high in the air for the class to view.

"Class!" Mr. Simmons beamed with a radiant joy. "Today I have the great pleasure of telling you all about a terrific extracurricular activity that is available to you all! Because we don't have much money in the school budget for field trips, we won't be going out more than twice this year. But the teachers have coordinated together with others to offer to you all a chance to go to weekend camp for reduced rates! Many of your instructors will be there, and for a mere ten dollars, we can all participate in arts and crafts. It will be a very special, very spiritually, and even intellectually stimulating weekend! By the way, everyone who participates gets two extra credit points in my class!" said Mr. Simmons holding up two fingers.

"Bah! I have enough points to pass this class!" Helga complained from her chair behind Arnold's. "How about you, Arnoldo?"

"Well, I don't need the points but it sounds fun. It's been awhile since I've gone camping. If it's camping." Arnold accepted a pamphlet as it was handed to him.

"Cabins," Helga pointed out examining the pamphlet she had received in turn. "It can't be all that bad. If you're going, I'm going!"

"I wouldn't doubt it." Arnold smiled softly.

A few weeks passed. Rhonda continued her unintended torment of her classmates with her gossip. But the weekend camping trip camp arrived. When it did, descending off the schoolbus from P.S. 118 were Mr. Simmons, Nadine, Sheena, Arnold, Phoebe, Helga, Peapod Kid, Sid, Stinky, and Rhonda. The kids paused to study a common prefabricated shed. The building's corners and porch were decorated with logs with bark on them. On the trim of the roof, rustic sticks were pasted much like one hangs candy canes everywhere to decorate for Christmas. Mr. Simmons spread his arms wide towards the less than wild area before them.

"Welcome to the lodge, class!" he said. "I'm certain our learning experience here will be fun and enjoyable!" The kids shuffled their way in. The tables had been set with names written on placards made from construction paper. At each seat was a set of paper, scissors, and colored pencils. Helga sat down in a chair by her name.

"Wow, did they mistake us for kindergartners or somethin'? This looks like a page from a coloring book! Not that they're not relaxing or anything."

"There is some paper for freehand!" Arnold debated back. He grasped a few sheets of blank paper from the heart of the table. In his mind, he could already imagine drawings appearing on them. Maybe he'd start simple? Helga squinted at a bowl full of pinecones.

"Oh, great! Pinecone art. Again." She scowled then rolled her eyes. Then she spotted some names that were unfamiliar. Someone named Ralph was seated between her and Arnold.

"Ralph? Who's Ralph?! Oh well!" said Helga swapping the placards so that she was seated next to Arnold. She plopped down in her chair and twiddled her thumbs not-so-innocently. As Helga waited at the table for class to begin, a second school bus pulled up to the camp. A number of school kids their age filed into the lodge.

"Who are you guys?" Helga blurted out. She had been a little impolite. A girl her age looked at Helga with a touch of irritation.

"We're from P.S. 117!" the girl said. And that next bus over there is P.S. 116!" Helga could see out the lodge windows. A torrent of school kids was arriving.

Rhonda seated herself at a table next to a girl as tall as she was.

"Hi!" the girl in the yellow shirt said. "I'm Bianca."

"Hi! I'm Rhonda. Rhonda Wellington Lloyd," Rhonda declared with pride. A gaggle of other girls sat between her and Nadine.

"Whow, Rhonda! I really like your hair!" said one of the girls. "Do you get it professionally straightened?"

"Of course!" Rhonda beamed.

"Well, I go to the hair salon at least once a month myself! Would you like to come over to our cabin? We could braid hair!"

"I JUST LOVE braiding hair!" Rhonda replied with much delight.

"That's great!" said one. "You're so much prettier and nicer than Sally!" another one the girls said.

"Who's Sally?"

"And who's Stinky? Does he really stink?" one of the girls said squinting at the name sign since the named boy hadn't taken his seat yet.

"Maybe it's a nickname for Davendish. Our classmate we all don't like," one of the girls laughed behind her hand. "Did you come here with your classmates?"

"I sure did!" Rhonda said, willing to please everyone. She and the students from P.S. 117 fell into a lengthy conversation. The conversation was so lengthy that Helga, Arnold, Stinky, Sid, Harold, and most of their other schoolmates had gone to snack break for colored imitation punch, crackers, and cheese while Rhonda stayed behind at the table.

"Geeze!" Helga complained to Gerald who stood next to her, who stood next to Phoebe. "Does all she do is gab?"

"Oh, oh, oh, and did you hear about what Harold and Stinky and Sid did?" Rhonda gossiped with wicked delight. "Don't tell anyone else, but Iggy spotted them skinny dipping just after dusk."

"Wow. Rhonda's really working hard to get everyone mad at her," Gerald observed from a distance to his friends.

"Oh well!" Helga said with indifference. She returned to the art table. Helga picked up a colored pencil to color in a page. Arnold meanwhile, sat and began to draw a large bird. He held it up to Helga to view. But it was Phoebe, across the table, who commented on it.

"Wow, Arnold! That's really very good!" the small girl said. Arnold smiled softly. He laid his paper face-down.

"Thanks, Phoebe! And what are you working on?"

"A schematic for a robot in the robotics-shop's battle-arena tournament!" Phoebe said. "The local community college is participating."

"Since when do you go to community college?" Helga asked as she leaned against one propped elbow.

"Tuesday evenings!" Phoebe said. "Six to seven o'clock!"

"Gee, you really get out in an unusual way," Helga said. "Still, more power to you! As long as your parents are footing the bill."

"Thanks, Helga," said Phoebe with a polite nod to her head. She went back to scribbling on her page.

A pleasant day passed. After drawing, the classes had begun in earnest and the kids exited the lodge house to the sunny afternoon sky wearing bracelets and braids with feathers struck in their hair. Arnold wore a necklace made from cheap plastic colored beads. Nadine carried a beetle made from a pine cone in her hands. One of the camp administrators blew on a whistle to gather all the children into a courtyard.

"All right, kids!" the administrator said. "We will be unloading luggage now! Collect your baggage, but stay with your assigned camp counselor! Councilors, we will be handing out cabin assignments!" Mr. Simmons accepted a printed page from the man. He frowned as he looked down its text.

"Cabins? Already?" Helga asked. She shot her gaze towards Arnold. She didn't want to part so soon. But at least she had Phoebe. Helga shuffled beside her best friend.

Phoebe entered the girl's cabin first with a sleeping bag held over her shoulder by one hand. Helga nearly bumped into her as the girl suddenly stopped. But then Phoebe walked timidly forward to drop her sleeping bag onto the bed. Helga scampered up to the top bunk to drop off her own pink sleeping bag.

"Hm, this might be great, after all!" said Helga swinging her legs off the side of the bed. "The view up here isn't half-bad!" The other girls of their class began to fill up all the beds. Mr. Simmons knocked on their open door to let them know he had arrived.

"Girls?" he said. "I'd like to let you know, I've been speaking with the other camp counselors and we need to have two girls from P.S. 116 stay here in the cabin. Also, one girl from our school, P.S. 118, will need to stay at cabin C with those from P.S. 117. Do we have any volunteers?" The man almost pleaded.

"Rhonda volunteers!" Helga said, pointing.

"Ha! I think you meant to volunteer yourself?" said Rhonda.

"Nah, no way I'm leaving this cabin!" said Helga. "Me and Phoebe claim THIS bunk!" said Helga still on the top of the bunkbed.

"Well, nobody is kicking me out of this cabin, either! Make Nadine do it!"

"Um, Rhonda. I don't want to do it either," said her displeased best friend.

"I already said I'd share with Nadine," said Sheena in her mild voice.

"What?! Nadine how could you do this to me?! We're best friends! Ugh, fine! If that's how everyone is going to be, fine. This is totally unbelievable, but I'll take my graces somewhere where hopefully, people will have the sense to appreciate them."

"Does this mean you volunteer?" Mr. Simmons said almost praising his good luck.

"Ugh. Yes, Mr. Simmons. It means I volunteer!" Rhonda said with disgust. "It might even be fun! Those girls I met earlier seemed quite fashion savvy. A refreshing change from these personages!"

"Now Rhonda!" Mr. Simmons rebuked mildly. "Respectful words please! If you're sure, bring your sleeping bag and suitcase and come with me!" Rhonda stuck her tongue out at Helga as she walked out the cabin door. Helga stuck her tongue out back. Sometimes the two head strong girls did not get along. But would Rhonda get along with everyone in the new cabin?


	3. Chapter 3

Rhonda followed her grade school teacher, now serving the role of camp counselor, to a different girl's cabin than the one Nadine, Phoebe, Sheena, and Helga were staying in. This second cabin was a mere stone's throw away. It was built exactly the same as the last one, but when Rhonda walked in the door their was a distinct difference in ambiance. As Rhonda walked through the door, there was an almost overwhelming odor of air freshener mixed with hair spray. Two girl were braiding hair on one of the beds and on another, the faintly fawn-colored girl with a jean mini-skirt was blasting the space with music from a small boombox with batteries. Rhonda stopped in the doorway to stare. Then she smiled with hope. She liked what she saw. Mr. Simmons rested a hand on her shoulder top. "Now everyone? I'd like to introduce Rhonda. She'll be your cabin mate for tonight," Mr. Simmons explained. Rhonda stepped forward boldly, even if two of the girls were a little older than herself.

"Hello, everyone! Allow me to introduce myself once again!" the girl exalted. "I am Miss Rhonda Wellington Lloyd! Did I mention my family is rich? We've lived in Hillwood for ages! Are you new here?"

"No. We live on the other side of town," said the girl lowering the volume on her boombox to stare at Rhonda. "On the north side. We've got suburbs and the new cultural center? We're P.S. 117."

"I got it!" Rhonda said cheerfully. "So all of your dads and moms are rich, too?"

"Well, they are bosses," said one.

"Mine are computer programmers."

"Fabulous!" Rhonda grinned. But the girls looked wary-eyed at her.

"Say, if your parents are rich, how come they live downtown? In one of the rougher neighborhoods?"

"Tsk!" Rhonda said. "I'll have you know, we live in newly remodeled but historic flat. The view from our balcony is incredible. Not everyone can afford to live downtown like we do! The price of real estate is very exclusive!"

"Right," one of the girls brushed the debate off. "Say Rhonda, come sit on the bed. Would you like me to braid your hair? I did promise."

"Would I?!" Rhonda said. "Oh, and I have argan oil in my bag. It does wonder for hair! You girls should all try it."

Back in the other cabin, Helga was reading a comic book by the dim lamplight. Phoebe was fluffing up a dainty pillow she had brought herself when she heard Sheena speak.

"Say, do you think Rhonda will be alright?" the girl said kindly. "I feel a little bad about how things turned out. I didn't mean to cause and argument between her and Nadine."

"Oh come on!" Helga spoke up from behind the centerfold. "Rhonda's fine! Besides Nadine needs a little space after Rhonda shared an old cooties story about her 'best friend' with all of her new pals. This place is a whole lot quieter without 'Princess' prancing and pawing around. Just let her be!"

"Oh, well, if you really say so, Helga!" Sheena mumbled.

"Besides!" Helga argued with new emphasis. "Rhonda's probably having the time of her life! Hanging out with the 'lucky people'."

"Oh, well, you're probably right," Sheena muttered before falling silent. Then the girls heard the sound of a camp whistle. It was a camp counselor summoning them outside. All of the boys stood in the dust of the yard with this second camp counselor. Mr. Simmons had returned also, with two new girls to fill the last bunkbed in the cabin. As the strangers settled in, the four girls from P.S. 118 trooped outside their cabin to rejoin the boys.

"Where's Rhonda?" Arnold inquired.

"Out playing 'too good for us'," Helga huffed.

"I concur," Phoebe remarked.

"She switched cabins," Nadine explained with a touch of loyalty to her friend.

"Oh. Alright," said Arnold, dropping the subject.

Helga was right. Rhonda was having the time of her life. She was grinning ecstatically when her cabin group came within skirmishing distance of all the kids from P.S. 118.

"Hi guys!" Rhonda cheered with a touch of smugness. "I'm having a blast! How about you?"

"We're just fine, Rhondaloid!" Helga spat back.

"Humph!" Rhonda sniffed with arms folded with affront.

"Kids," a new camp counselor declared to many waiting ears. "Our activities for this afternoon will be a brief scavenger hunt, followed by one more craft activity, then dinner, fire-circle, and bedtime. When we return to the cabins for tonight we expect for you to stay there except to use the latrine until the bugle is sounded. Do you understand?"

"Yes," everyone sulked.

"Good," the man said looking at a clipboard. "So I will now announce the scavenger teams. Sid, Rhonda, Britne, and Briar will be team one! Please step forward to receive your packet of clues!" The man offered Rhonda a manila envelope. Rhonda and her fellow teammate peeked inside. How would the scavenger hunt go? Only time would tell.


	4. Chapter 4

"A scavenger hunt?" Rhonda said examining the page in her hand with a slight, thoughtful twist of her lip. "That is SO totally classic for summer camp. Not that I've been to a summer camp for children before mind you! My parents and I USUALLY vacation at exclusive resorts! We're especially fond of yachting along port cities with THE MOST quaintest of shops! That's where mother gets her jewelry, you know. Now then, the clues!" Rhonda said peering down into the envelope. Rhonda was at ill-ease when one of the older girls plucked the folder free from Rhonda's hand to open it herself. The two girls from P.S. 117 then bent their heads together over a collection of items.

"A laminated picture of an owl. A fake compass pointing west. A plastic duck. A picture of a mountain," said Briar while holding the cut-out photo of a mountain in her left hand.

"What? There aren't any mountains around here!" Britne objected. She reached out for the cutout with her right hand. But Britne had not let go of the photograph or gotten out of the way. Briar knocked her head accidentally against Britne's as both girls bent to squint at the same picture at the same time.

"Ow!" Britne said rubbing her head. But she forgot all about the accident in an instant. "It's gotta be Lookout Hill! You know, the tallest hill in this camp."

"So the owl would be in a tree?" Britne said thinking rapidly. "I know, the old barn! It's the perfect place for an owl!" Britne vaulted forward as if to run. But at that same exact moment, Briar had begun to move, too, in the opposite direction. The two girls collided to sprawl out on the ground.

"Man, oh man!" Helga complained as she lifted her shoe away from the tangle of girls as if they disgusted her. "Well, it looks like your team is off to a good start, Rhonda! Good luck!" the girl in pink said not too kindly. Helga, Nadine, Stinky, and Harold calmly walked away. Harold held a map scrunched in his meaty fists. He wore a look of fierce concentration. But Nadine and Helga looked a little bored. Maybe they had figured out their clues already.

"I hate to intervene," said Rhonda with a softer but still slightly flippant air, "but can we start with the first clue first and work our way onwards? It makes perfect, logical sense."

"Rhonda's right," Briar nodded as she plucked herself off the ground. She handed the clue in her hand back to Britne.

"Okay! Girls, I will lead!" said Britne. "Follow me! The barn is off this way!" Britne stomped off the trail to disappear. Then Briar disappeared. Then Rhonda found out why as she tumbled on top of them in a small ditch.

"Ow!" Briar squeaked as Rhonda's weight pressed on top of her.

A few minutes later, the three girls- Rhonda, Britne, and Briar- had found the barn Britne had spoken off. Britne pointed.

"There!" Briar grasped hold of a round paper tube that had been painted a festive blue. She shook it to free a small note that had been tucked inside.

"Puzzle piece one of four," Briar read. She handed the note to Britne but didn't let go of it. The two girls softly knocked heads once again as both tried to view it under the dim lamplight of the barn.

"Picture number two is a compass pointing west. What's west?" Everyone shrugged. They wandered around looking up and down.

"Look, a clue!" said Rhonda as she swooped it up from between some ferns.

"Uh, excuse me!" Phoebe Heyerdahl declared from behind Rhonda with more force than usual. "I believe that is our clue? We're team yellow. You're team blue correct?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Rhonda, whirling around. She looked down at the cardboard tube in her hand. Britne held up the manilla packet.

"She's right! It does say team blue on it! So where is our clue then?" Rhonda held out the red-colored tube for Phoebe to take. Phoebe politely cleared her throat.

"Um, if you don't mind a hint, I believe we passed by one of your clues. What precisely are you looking for?"

"A compass pointed west. Please, spill anything you know on the subject! We've been looking like... FOREVER."

"Well, in that case try looking beneath the pathways sign where the trails all split. It should still be there! Bye!" Phoebe advised them kindly. Then she walked off with Arnold, Peapod Kid, and Sheena.

"Oh my gosh! She's right!" Rhonda exclaimed as they came to the intersection of trails. Rhonda was so excited she stood on her toes. There, hidden in a mat of grass beneath wooden signs in the shapes of arrows lay a blue, cardboard tube. Above it, the four arrow-shaped signs read "west", "south", "east", and "north".

"Hmph! What a pathetic clue!" Rhonda sniffed. "Very misleading! Now what's the next one?"

"The duck!" Briar chirped.

"The pond!" Britne gasped. The two girls both prepared to sprint for the nearest pond. Britne darted forward only to trip over a log. Within a heart's pulse, Briar tumbled over her again.

"Let's take our time getting there, shall we?" said Rhonda. "I don't want to break a nail!" She gave her red-polished fingernails a careful examination. All this time, Sid had said nothing. He had merely followed the more enthusiastic girls at a distance. But at the sight of the pond, a grin lit his face.

"Look, a pond Sydney!" Sid exclaimed with cheer. "And there's our friends Stinky and Harold! There's Arnold, too!" The other kids had all knotted into small chatting crowd not too far away. A small, green head poked out from beneath Sid's hat.

"Ribbit!" Sydney the frog croaked as it looked at the pond. Then it hopped down into Sid's waiting palms.

"Would you like to go for a swim, Sydney?" the boy offered with deep affection.

"Ribbit!" responded Sydney.

Sid approached the water, but as he walked away from Britne, he heard a loud exclamation of disgust from behind him.

"Ugh! What's that sound? A frog! How horrid!" Briar screeched as if hearing a frog was one of the worst things that could ever happen to her. "I didn't know they had frogs at this camp! I'd heard they'd been driven from the pond years ago."

"Oh, don't worry," Rhonda shrugged. "It's just a frog. Sid brought it along with him."

"Ugh, a frog?! Lemma see!" Britne pivoted to glare at Sid. Then she glared down at the frog in Sid's hands. Seeing her angry stare, Sydney panicked to leap forward. With an unfortunately aimed plop, the frog landed squarely on Britne.

"Eeeih!" the girl squealed.

"Don't worry! I'll get the little monster!" Briar said. She menaced near Britne with a large stick to club any frogs with.

"No! Don't please! Don't hurt Sydney!" Sid screamed. His shout drew the attention of all of the people crowded on a nearby bank of the pond.

"Golly," Stinky Peterson blurted out. His eyes met Harold's in a flash. Both boys took on a look of determination. Then with a rapid jog, Stinky Peterson reached Briar to grab hold of her menacing stick. But Briar wouldn't let go so she wound up dangling off it like the stick was a monkey bar.

"Let go! Let go!" Briar complained, her feet kicking out in the air. Harold and Sid both grasped hold of Britne's arms on either side so she was forced to stop trying to flatten Sid's pet frog. Arnold rushed up to try to catch the frightened frog. Sydney the frog, however, stopped his leaping about Britne to make a terrified leap into Rhonda's palms. She curled them about the frog protectively.

"Sydney!" Sid cried with angst. Weeping, the boy collected his favorite frog from Rhonda's hands. He snuggled his cheek against Sydney's back.

"Gawsh! What did y'all do now, Rhonda?!" Stinky Peterson grimaced.

"Yeah!" Harold agreed before looking baffled. "What did she do now?"

"You didn't have to tell everyone about Sydney you know!" Sid sniffled. "If you hadn't, they wouldn't have nearly killed him!" Sid sniffled some more.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…" Rhonda began to mumble out. But then she and all the other campers heard a shrill whistle sound behind them.

"All right kids!" A senior camp advisor and his tough-looking partner barked out. "Break it up!" Briar let go of the stick at last and sobbed.

"Counselor! These kids are bullies! They were mean to me! They were gonna beat me up!"

"Yeah!" Britne complained as vocally as she could without shouting. "These hoodlums grabbed me! They're terrible! You've got to do something about them!" Britne pointed.

"Now just a gawsh darn minute!" Stinky Peterson said narrowing his eyes.

"We're not bullies!" Arnold complained as one of the counselors grabbed him by the shoulder. "We were just trying to save Sid's frog!"

"Yeah!" Helga groused as she stood near Arnold. She frowned up at the counselor. "Those small-brained girls started it!" She flicked a finger in Briar and Britne's direction.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure," the counselor said with skepticism. "But no matter what the reason, you all broke the rules! I'm taking you four in for a long time-out. We might even have to expel you from camp. March!" he barked before sounding off his whistle.

"The rest of you kids follow me!" The other counselor demanded. "We are all going to have a little talk." The man with a whistle glared down at the various remaining kids.

"Well, I hope you're happy, Rhonda," Helga scolded one of the few people left behind. Phoebe stood blinking beside them, her arms drooped down in shock. "All your yabbering led to more than bad feelings this time! I hope you're happy with yourself!"

"Hmph!" Rhonda huffed. "You THINK you know me, Helga?" said Rhonda palming her hand over her breastbone. "Of course I'm not happy about this! I never meant…"

"You never do!" Helga snapped, still incensed. "And people call me heartless, Cruella! You're much too carefree about other people's lives. Why don't you stop your meddling?"

"Hmph! Why don't I?!" spat Rhonda. "I don't need you! I don't need anyone! You'll see!" Her chest puffed up, Rhonda strode away into the marsh. But as she soon as she had left, sorrow replaced her veil of rage. She sat below the covering branches of an old oak tree on a hill that formed a small island in the marsh. Rhonda covered her knees with her arms. As she looked down at her feet, she deeply sighed.

But Rhonda couldn't concentrate on feeling miserable and sorry for herself. An acorn had dropped on her head. Rubbing the raw spots, Rhonda looked up to be pelted with several more. The athletic girl rolled out from under the tree as a squirrel emerged into view. It stood on a stout branch in the lowest tier of branches in the tree and puffed up its tail to challenge Rhonda.

"Eeek, eeek, eeek!" the squirrel chattered with rage. It threw another acorn at Rhonda. She side-rolled to hide behind an enormous, gray, granite boulder.

"Just great! I knew coming that coming to this backwater camp was a mistake! I could have been home enjoying mulled apple cider and cookies with mummy and daddy. But no, I had to come here instead where even the squirrels hate me! My life is tragic!" Rhonda huffed with no real heart to her words. Somehow, even she knew that saying her life was completely tragic was a gross exaggeration. Whether or not she'd admit to bringing her sorrows onto herself was a whole different matter. But as Rhonda crouched behind the boulder, she heard a human voice hiss.

"Psst!" the voice said. "Over here!" Rhonda looked behind her shoulder to see a shadowy figure huddled in a deep vertical hole that was partially covered with pine bow branches. Whoever it was, they wore a leather cap and sunglasses to make them even more ambiguous. Rhonda whirled around so that she crouched on her heels. She peered down the hole to get as good of a view of the stranger as possible.

"What do YOU want?" Rhonda chided him. A very short and very chubby boy climbed halfway out the hole.

"I've been watching you!" the boy sniffed. "And you're like me! It's not fair for you to ostracized from society! Everyone else is so unfair to you! Come with me and you can leave behind all that! Plus you have to run. The legion of squirrels will be here any minute."

"Legion of squirrels?" sniffed Rhonda. "That's ridiculous. There's no such thing." But just then, the ground shook.

"Oh no!" the chubby boy gasped with fear. His voice wheedled. "It's... her! The mother of all squirrels!"

"Why?" Rhonda asked as she looked straight ahead to the oak tree on the isle. An angry squirrel with puffed fur, sharp teeth, claws like a horror monster, half of a stubby tail, and lots of drool dropped out of the tree from some hiding place. Behind her were a half dozen battle-hardened relatives. The lead squirrel growled like a wolverine.

"Quick! In here to access the escape tunnels!" the mystery boy blurted out. He dove back into his hole. With seven angry, possibly rabid squirrels pursuing her, Rhonda dropped into the hole. Her new ally rolled a stone over the hole she had leapt into. Rhonda watched in dread as the light of the sun disappeared. But then the boy lit a torch.

"This way!" the boy said mysteriously. Rhonda rolled her eyes back towards where she had come. But there was little choice but to move forward. With a shrug, Rhonda followed the stranger. They walked for several minutes through a tunnel and past ancient artifacts from numerous civilizations that had never been in Hillwood but were here anyway. Like a small, live dragon sitting on gold surrounded by armor suitable for fantasy elves, a fleet of Roman chariots beside a wall mosaic of Big Caesar, and a sunken pirate ship. After all these things, Rhonda and the boy passed through a huge cavern full of enough stalactites and stalagmites to fuel a tourism industry. Last of all, the boy that was Rhonda's guide led her through a simple muddy tunnel into what looked like a superhero's hideout, complete with glass-walled elevators leading to mysterious places, carts on tracks, and abundant electronics. The boy snuffed his torch. He walked into the light before an enormous television screen.

"Hello, girl!" the boy said with pride in himself. "Fear not, my sweet, because I.. am Flatman!" Rhonda gaped as the boy strolled into the light. It was just as the boy said. He looked really strange because he was really flat. Nearly as flat as a sheet of cardboard. When he turned side-to-side, the boy looked like a cardboard cutout of a person. He also wore a cape. Rhonda twisted her head, side-to-side, squinting.

"Uh, nice to meet you!" Rhonda fibbed. "I'm Rhonda Wellington Lloyd! How do you do? Er, Flatman you said your name was? Right?"

"That is correct, fair damsel!" said the boy. "And you are wondering why I go by the name of Flatman, yes? Well, I really am something of a one-dimensional character. You see, Rhonda, like yourself, I was once scorned and hated by my peers. Exactly one week ago, I came to camp, innocent and carefree like yourself. But then, it happened! It was on the scavenger hunt. My group's clue was an acorn. So I was sent in to retrieve the scavenger hunt clue from beneath the oak tree. But then, I met her! The squirrel of evil! She drove me away and when I failed to retrieve our scavenger hunt clue, my team admitted defeat. Disillusioned, my unit splintered to pursue other, more achievable dreams. But that night, at campfire, everyone made fun of my lack of courage in the face of our furry enemy! I felt so deflated. I had always been thin, but when others made fun of me, I felt so withered that at night, when the others slept, I slithered underneath the door through the tiny gap at the bottom and stole into the woods. I was determined to make a life for myself away from society. And so I have built myself a base here, waiting for a day of redemption."

"Wow," said Rhonda spinning her head around to looking at all the blinking lights and machinery that must have weighed several tons. "You built all this in a week? I must say that's kind of impressive."

"You flatter my unworthy self with your words, kind mademoiselle," said Flatman. The boy opened a red curtain to reveal a smaller room that looked like a normal living room. But with a trampoline in it.

"Here, mademoiselle! Would you care to take refuge here with me? You are more than welcome."

"Well, I might stay for a few minutes," said Rhonda. She hopped up onto the trampoline and began to bounce on it. "Wheee! This is...terrific! Is that a frozen yogurt dispenser?" Rhonda gaped. She hustled over to a machine tucked in the corner to serve herself.

"Yes, mademoiselle. And here is my game station. Would you care to play Go-Course Overhaul?"

"Would I?!" Rhonda grinned. She grabbed up a remote.

Up above the ground, Nadine looked around the cabin. She got up off her bunk bed then walked out the cabin door. After shutting the door gently, she approached Phoebe.

"Phoebe? Have you seen Rhonda anywhere?" the girl asked.

"No. I haven't!" Phoebe said. "Not since she and Helga got into an argument."

"Well, I think I should go find her!" Nadine blurted after a moment of hesitation. "Rhonda's proud. But she might really be upset. Especially after I didn't back her. Maybe I should have."

"Oh, please!" Helga huffed, overhearing. "Make it all my fault, why don't you? So what if she's bawling her eyes out? It might do her a bit of good."

"Well, maybe we should forgive Rhonda for how she's behaving lately," said Phoebe. "Maybe she's off somewhere feeling remorse?" Helga's eyes suddenly bulged. Below them, they could hear bubbly, exuberant laughter. It sounded like Rhonda was laughing and having a really good time. Down below their feet in an underground hideout, Rhonda was bouncing on the trampoline. She stopped to examine one of the glass elevators.

"What does this do?" Rhonda asked looking at a really big red button.

"That's the llama-crystal-laser-cutter," said Flatman. Rhonda pressed the button and an enormous laser cut a block of transparent rock into a tiny figurine of a llama.

"And what's this do?" asked Rhonda.

"That's the transport up!" Flatman said. He and Rhonda got into the glass-elevator. Flatman pressed the green button and like a bank tube, they got sucked up a place near the cabins. In the campsite, a large boulder pivoted up. From below it, the glass elevator erupted from the ground with a loud ping.

"Hello everyone!" Rhonda said with a wide smile and cheery wave. "It's a beautiful evening!"

"Wow. She sounds so remorseful," Helga said. Voice full of sarcasm, she posed, hip and head-half turned so that one had a good view of her pigtail.

"Rhonda?" Nadine pressed. "Did you want to come back to the cabin? I'm more than happy to switch with you."

"Come back?" said Rhonda from beside her new friend. "No way! I've moved on from all that! I'm going to cultivate new acquaintances. I'm not limited in the number of people who adore me! You'll see!" sniffed Rhonda.

"Gee, Rhonda!" Phoebe faltered. "We didn't mean to trivialize your opinion among us. Based on your lack of reception for reconciliation, your feelings must have really been hurt!'

"It's no matter Phoebe!" Rhonda sniffed. "I don't need an apology from Helga. Not at all! I'm going to live out the rest of my time here at camp with my NEW friend. He appreciates me!" Rhonda gestured behind her towards Flatman.

"Ooh," Phoebe whispered to Helga as both girls stared. "And I thought the shape of Arnold's head was a little weird."

"Yeah!" Sheena nodded in raw agreement.

"Well, goodbye all!" Rhonda waved again. She pressed the green button to the elevator herself to whirl out of view. The boulder slid back to where it had been. One might have guessed that the sight they had seen was all a dream.

"Yeah. Well. It's almost dinner, you guys!" Sheena mumbled out.

"Oh, yeah, dinner!" all the other girls mumbled out. They marched towards the camp's mess hall.

The day turned to dusk. A campfire had been lit by the time the camp counselors brought Arnold, Stinky, Sid, and Harold back to their cabins. The girls had returned from dinner a long time ago.

"Alright, you!" the senior camp counselor barked at them. "Back to your cabins, ya bunch of vigilantes! And remember, we make the rules around here! Your only job is to obey them!"

Arnold gave an annoyed glance over his shoulder. Then he shuffled to regroup with his other friends. In a weary manner, he rubbed his cheek, then slumped down on a log so that he sat right next to Helga. The girl flexed her back enough to turn her head, although she kept her marshmallow-on-a-stick roasting in the fire.

"So they finally let you out, huh?" Helga asked. "I didn't see you at dinner."

"We did have dinner in the counselor's cabins. Soup and bread. We did get two cookies to share between us, though."

"Ooh, too bad!" clucked Helga. "We had salisbury steak and soft serve ice cream."

"Icecream!" Arnold huffed. "That's hardly fair! I still say we didn't do anything wrong! We were just trying to save a frog! At least Britne and Briar got detention, too."

"Well, that's city life for you," said Helga. "It was one person's word against another's. Besides, one little frog doesn't mean as much from their perspective. Kids scrapping with other kids is a whole lot worse. But if it helps, you can be angry to me."

"Nah," said Arnold rubbing his forehead. "I'm tired of being angry. I just want to rest now." Arnold shut his eyes wearily. Then, as Helga tensed with shock, Arnold rested his cheek against Helga's shoulder. After recovering from her initial shock, Helga twitched her eyes back and forth in a sneaky manner. Perhaps now was the moment to indulge her curiosity? She snuck her hand up to touch a lock of Arnold's hair. The boy's eyes popped open for a mere moment as he guessed at just who was tugging on his hair, but then he squinched his eyes shut once again. Dropping her hand from Arnold's locks, Helga swooned. She pressed a hand against her heart, a giddy smile plastered across her face.

But this story isn't about Arnold and Helga. It's about Rhonda. And down in her hole below the ground, Rhonda could spy on everyone above her. Since gossip was so intoxicating for Rhonda, she could not resist. She put earphones on her head and slid into a chair. Twisting a knob on a radio, she listened in on the conversation of her friends. They didn't observe the tiny radios nailed to the trees all around them.

"Wow, what a downright, cat-spanking, miserable day!" Stinky Peterson said. "It reminds me of the last time I had to use pliers to pry my ol' pet Mr. Snappy the turtle off my fingers!"

"Or like the day Eugene skateboarded into the back of the icecream truck and broke everything so that we had no ice cream for a week!" Sid exclaimed, picking up the fervor of his friend. But then the boy stoked his pet frog, Sydney, as it sat on his knee. He lifted the frog gently to snuggle it against his cheek. "But at least Sydney's alright! I was so worried! But ya guys, I really don't blame Rhonda. She protected Sydney when he jumped into her arms so she can't be all that bad. I know that everyone's angry at Rhonda for gossiping about everyone, but Sydney likes her! See ya guys!" With a wide smile, the boy lifted up the frog.

"Ribbit!" the frog croaked.

"Right. Like a frog is a good character witness," Helga sniffed. "That makes for good court T.V."

"Hm, Sid's right, Helga," said Arnold who had recovered a bit after his brief nap. "Rhonda is our friend. She likes to gossip and I find that kind of annoying. But she does have good qualities, too."

"Like being the fashion queen?" Helga asked, her eyebrow lifted.

"Well, she does give good advice on clothes sometimes," said Sid. "One time, she gave me a coupon for the store that sells my favorite boots! It's too bad she missed craft time."

"Yeah!" said Stinky Peterson. He pulled a tye-dye T-shirt from out of nowhere. "I sure could've used Rhonda's advice on colors when I was makin' this tye-dye shirt! She sure does have an expert eye for color! I waz wonderin' if I should go with red and orange or blue and green for my colors?"

"Blue and green!" Rhonda chanted to herself as he eavesdropped. She forced herself up from the flat surface of the table on the palms of her hands. "Blue and green!"

"And it's too bad she missed out on gettin' a coupon flyer to the grand opening of Wafflemart!" Stinky added.

"Yeah!" Sid nodded. "Seventy percent off! How about we all go check it out next tuesday after school? We could invite Rhonda."

"Nah, we can't," Stinky said wagging his overly large nose. "She's gone off to live under a boulder in yon wilderness!" the boy said. "Well, I hope she'll be happy turning her back on commonplace society."

"Do they get pizza delivery there?" asked Sid, mildly. Arnold listened to the entire conversation with an bored expression on his face.

"Please pass the marshmallows, Sid," they blond-haired boy said. He grasped hold of the pillow-pack and opened it to get a marshmallow for roasting. In the secret base below the boulder, Rhonda flopped flat on her back in frustration.

"Argh!" the girl shouted. At her lament, she curled her fingers up into the air above her head, clawing out her anguish. Then she flopped back into the dust.

"Alright, Rhonda!" she said to herself sternly, sitting up at last. "That's it, Rhonda Lloyd! You can either hide beneath a rock for the rest of your life or you can go up there and apologize! It's time to prove you're a Lloyd! And Lloyds don't hide under a rock! They're at the center of culture!" Rhonda said with a delicate sniff. She brushed the dust off her clothes and strode towards the elevator.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Flatman declared. The kid in a cape bit his nails out of anxiety. "You aren't going up there...to the upper realm are you?"

"I am!" Rhonda stated proudly. "And I hope that someday you redeem yourself, too my friend! But I will face whatever criticisms come my way. Even if it means I owe the girls an apology." Rhonda pressed the elevator button. The giant boulder beside the camp cabins pivoted up. Rhonda stepped off the elevator and it sunk back into the ground to vanish. She was left beside a dumbfound audience beside a crackling fire.

"Hello, everyone," Rhonda stated evenly, her arms folded behind her back. "I just wanted to say to you all, I'm sorry for my behavior lately. And I promise, that from now on, I'll try to be more courteous and not share details of your personal life with everyone I meet. What I mean to say, is I'll try to curtail the gossip a bit. We're still friends, aren't we?" Rhonda blinked her eyes in charming way, her fingertips curled to tap her chest as she posed.

"Yeah, we're friends Rhonda!" Arnold stated for all of them. Helga kept silent.

"Friends! Best friends!" Nadine said with a broad smile. She moved to take her habitual place next to Rhonda.

"Do you like ghost stories, Rhonda?" Phoebe said as she lifted up a thick blue paperback. "I was just about to read from this anthology!"

"I'd just LOVE to do whatever you want to do!" Rhonda said loudly. "Just as long as I get to be there to hear what you say when you talk about me. I have a lot to say about me, too!" Rhonda said with a prideful smile. "And I need an audience to hear it!"

"Um, sure!" Arnold said. Arnold and Helga shared a small smile. Their friend Rhonda hadn't changed much. But at least their argument with her was over and they were friends again. The end.


End file.
